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If you are here than you are undoubtedly interested on the current research and evidence either supporting or discouraging the use of popular lifting belts seen in today’s gyms.
This article will aim to cover some important aspects of weight lifting belts including: How weight lifting belts works, the science behind using them, and what the current evidence says about using them.
How Do Weight Lifting Belts Work?
To put it simply, weight lifting belts are thought to only help what your body does (or should) already be doing. They stabilize the spine as the primary function. To mimic what a powerlifting belt might do, try sucking in your stomach and squeezing your abs in tight. This is what a belt might do for your spine as your abdominals, obliques, and lower back muscles work to ultimately stabilize your spine in any activities you do.
These belts increase your abdominal cavity pressure which acts to stabilize your spine. Have you ever seen or experienced a lifters face getting really red due to not breathing out? This is another technique to increase your stability but also has the dreaded potential to cause you to pass out! Holding your breath during a lift is called the, “valsalva maneuver” and is comparable to pushing down hard during your bowel movements on the toilet. So what do weight lifting belts have to do with with you on the john? Just the fact that the pressure you feel is what weight lifting belts aim to accomplish. (P.S. Never perform the valsalva maneuver during exercise- it is very dangerous!)
So your next question might be, “Than shouldn’t I just work on strengthening my abs?” The answer is yes and no. Since weight lifting belts are thought to stabilize the spine it would make sense that a very strong core would be able to take over. This is true, but the majority of us have a weak core musculature.
On the other hand you don’t want to use a belt for every lift you do. Sometimes it may be necessary to have that extra layer of protection for very heavy lifts. This is were the gray area of using a weight belt enters. Although they may be beneficial (research to come below!) for those with weak musculature surrounding the spine, they can be overused and can lead to an even weaker core! This is because your abdominals won’t fire as hard if you have a belt to support your every move!
Mistakes Of The Belt
Here are a few downfalls of the weight lifting belt thus far that you should be aware of.
Some simple and common mistakes that give weight belts a bad name are:
Overuse of the belts leading to core weakness
Poor fitting of weight belts
Poor mechanics/posture
Feeling of “invincibility”
What The Evidence in Research Says
Clinical Trials
Clinical trials have been performed to find the effectiveness of belts to reduce injury for those who are employed with heavy lifting tasks. Although these do provide us with important information, there are limitations as well. One such limitation is called, “the Hawthorne effect” in which participants know they are being tested and will perform differently than if they were not aware they were being observed. This effect leads to the inability to perform a double blind study due to the fact that belt wearers are very aware that they have a giant belt around their waste.
Note: double blind studies are considered much more valuable as both the researcher and the subjects are unaware if they are being tested or not. This can’t happen here as the belt needs to be placed around the patient to get data.
In some studies done (Reddell and colleagues, 1992, Mitchell and colleagues, 1994, Wassell and colleagues, 2000) they found evidence that use of belts for workers already injured might slightly benefit from belts to prevent re-injury, but the evidence is weak. Although there is still some evidence there, further research indicated that there is no support that weight belts will prevent injury to those un-injured workers. Actually, the risk of injury seemed to increase in those not injured prior to belt usage!
The evidence from these clinical trials indicates that it would actually be detrimental to use a belt for a healthy bodybuilder or powerlifter during exercise. This may be due to the previous arguments about poor posture, feelings of “invincibility”, and eventual weaker core with weight belt usage.
Biomechanical Studies
These studies are more related to the biomechanical aspect of usuage including: spinal forces, intra-abdominal pressure, spinal load, and range of motion. As you can see, this will relate more to healthy bodybuilding and powerlifting population rather than workers as the clinical trials covered.
There have been a few studies that have shown support to weight lifting belts. Studies by both Harman et al.(1989) and Lander et al.(1992) showed that using a belt during repetitive lifting can increase safety. They came to this conclusion by measuring the relationship of ground reaction forces and increase intra-abdominal pressure (increases stability) while repeatedly lifting weights with barbells. This study is also taking the assumption that intra-abdominal pressure is a good indicator of the spinal forces taking place.
Aside from studies that support belt use for safety, there have been several that have not shown such supportive evidence. In one study by Mcgill and Norman (1987), they found that as intra-abdominal pressure increases, so does the demand for abdominal activation. So what researchers previously believed was the intra-abdominal pressure build-up requires LESS abdominal activation, but in reality, require MORE.
Another similar study by Nachemson and colleagues (1986) measured inttra-discal pressure during the valsalva maneuver. Like Mcgill and Norman, they found that pressure had in the disk had increased just like the compressive load on the spine.
So thus far, studies have found belts, which increase intra-abdominal pressure, increase compressive load in your spine.
Further Studies: A Look At The Lower Back
There have been several studies that look at the intra-abdominal pressure that belts provide and the results on lower back extensor activity. This is to say, they want to see how much stress belts do or do not cause on the lower back musculature.
A study by McGill and colleagues (1990) showed that weight lifting belt usage showed no difference in lower back/abdominal muscle activity than those not utilizing belts. Reyna and colleagues (1995) and Ciriello and Snook (1995) both showed that belts provided no reduction in fatigue or loading of the lower back extensors with belt use. Therefore one can conclude that the lower back musculature is firing the same regardless of belt usage.
Other Interesting Studies: Cardiac and Psycho-physical
One study by Hunter and colleagues (1989) looked at how blood pressure and heart rate were affected by belts. They took 6 individuals and had them perform dead lifts, riding bicycles, or perform a one-armed bench press while wearing and not wearing a 4 in. weight belt. The lifting exercise resulted in an increase in blood pressure (up to 15 mmHg) and significantly higher HR as well.
Due to the relationship between increased systolic blood pressure and increased incidence in stroke, Hunter and colleagues concluded that use of weight lifting belts may actually increase severe cardiac incidents! Of course, this was only one study an further research is needed to test the possibility of severe consequences of belt use.
The psycho-physical aspect of belts is an interesting topic to say the least. Many professionals have expressed concern over individuals who use belts as a false sense of security and rely heavily on them. In one study by McCoy and colleagues (1988) found that subjects who are allowed to select their own amount of weight with and without a belt tended to increase the weight amount by 19% when utilizing a belt!
This led to the conclusion that subjects were given a false sense of security with a belt and could possibly lead to injury. More research is needed in this area before we can draw a solid evidence base though.
In Conclusion
Although we would like to think that weight lifting belts provide that extra edge, it appears that the evidence is heavily one sided. Like all research there will be evidence in support of and against a particular area of interest. It is up to us to see the collective body of research articles that give us direction in one way or another. It appears the side against weight belt use for the purposes of safety, reduced fatigue, reduced spinal load, and reduced muscle activity in the lower back has won.
There only supportive evidence was found in already injured workers which was not very significant, but there. However, this does not lend support to healthy bodybuilder or powerlifters who lift weights in a gym setting. More research also needs to be conducted in the areas of severe cardiac consequence of using a belt and psycho-physical properties.
If this evidence still won’t point you away from using a weight belt than atleast take the precautions into effect starting now.
Try to focus on utilizing your abdominals during training and don’t just let your stomach flail out
Do not attempt lifting feats you would otherwise not trust yourself with not utilizing a belt
Only use belts when you must and train without them during the warm-up/lighter working sets
Don’t hold your breath during the lifting phase of any exercise- breathe out!
Always maintain great posture!
This article will aim to cover some important aspects of weight lifting belts including: How weight lifting belts works, the science behind using them, and what the current evidence says about using them.
How Do Weight Lifting Belts Work?
To put it simply, weight lifting belts are thought to only help what your body does (or should) already be doing. They stabilize the spine as the primary function. To mimic what a powerlifting belt might do, try sucking in your stomach and squeezing your abs in tight. This is what a belt might do for your spine as your abdominals, obliques, and lower back muscles work to ultimately stabilize your spine in any activities you do.
These belts increase your abdominal cavity pressure which acts to stabilize your spine. Have you ever seen or experienced a lifters face getting really red due to not breathing out? This is another technique to increase your stability but also has the dreaded potential to cause you to pass out! Holding your breath during a lift is called the, “valsalva maneuver” and is comparable to pushing down hard during your bowel movements on the toilet. So what do weight lifting belts have to do with with you on the john? Just the fact that the pressure you feel is what weight lifting belts aim to accomplish. (P.S. Never perform the valsalva maneuver during exercise- it is very dangerous!)
So your next question might be, “Than shouldn’t I just work on strengthening my abs?” The answer is yes and no. Since weight lifting belts are thought to stabilize the spine it would make sense that a very strong core would be able to take over. This is true, but the majority of us have a weak core musculature.
On the other hand you don’t want to use a belt for every lift you do. Sometimes it may be necessary to have that extra layer of protection for very heavy lifts. This is were the gray area of using a weight belt enters. Although they may be beneficial (research to come below!) for those with weak musculature surrounding the spine, they can be overused and can lead to an even weaker core! This is because your abdominals won’t fire as hard if you have a belt to support your every move!
Mistakes Of The Belt
Here are a few downfalls of the weight lifting belt thus far that you should be aware of.
Some simple and common mistakes that give weight belts a bad name are:
Overuse of the belts leading to core weakness
Poor fitting of weight belts
Poor mechanics/posture
Feeling of “invincibility”
What The Evidence in Research Says
Clinical Trials
Clinical trials have been performed to find the effectiveness of belts to reduce injury for those who are employed with heavy lifting tasks. Although these do provide us with important information, there are limitations as well. One such limitation is called, “the Hawthorne effect” in which participants know they are being tested and will perform differently than if they were not aware they were being observed. This effect leads to the inability to perform a double blind study due to the fact that belt wearers are very aware that they have a giant belt around their waste.
Note: double blind studies are considered much more valuable as both the researcher and the subjects are unaware if they are being tested or not. This can’t happen here as the belt needs to be placed around the patient to get data.
In some studies done (Reddell and colleagues, 1992, Mitchell and colleagues, 1994, Wassell and colleagues, 2000) they found evidence that use of belts for workers already injured might slightly benefit from belts to prevent re-injury, but the evidence is weak. Although there is still some evidence there, further research indicated that there is no support that weight belts will prevent injury to those un-injured workers. Actually, the risk of injury seemed to increase in those not injured prior to belt usage!
The evidence from these clinical trials indicates that it would actually be detrimental to use a belt for a healthy bodybuilder or powerlifter during exercise. This may be due to the previous arguments about poor posture, feelings of “invincibility”, and eventual weaker core with weight belt usage.
Biomechanical Studies
These studies are more related to the biomechanical aspect of usuage including: spinal forces, intra-abdominal pressure, spinal load, and range of motion. As you can see, this will relate more to healthy bodybuilding and powerlifting population rather than workers as the clinical trials covered.
There have been a few studies that have shown support to weight lifting belts. Studies by both Harman et al.(1989) and Lander et al.(1992) showed that using a belt during repetitive lifting can increase safety. They came to this conclusion by measuring the relationship of ground reaction forces and increase intra-abdominal pressure (increases stability) while repeatedly lifting weights with barbells. This study is also taking the assumption that intra-abdominal pressure is a good indicator of the spinal forces taking place.
Aside from studies that support belt use for safety, there have been several that have not shown such supportive evidence. In one study by Mcgill and Norman (1987), they found that as intra-abdominal pressure increases, so does the demand for abdominal activation. So what researchers previously believed was the intra-abdominal pressure build-up requires LESS abdominal activation, but in reality, require MORE.
Another similar study by Nachemson and colleagues (1986) measured inttra-discal pressure during the valsalva maneuver. Like Mcgill and Norman, they found that pressure had in the disk had increased just like the compressive load on the spine.
So thus far, studies have found belts, which increase intra-abdominal pressure, increase compressive load in your spine.
Further Studies: A Look At The Lower Back
There have been several studies that look at the intra-abdominal pressure that belts provide and the results on lower back extensor activity. This is to say, they want to see how much stress belts do or do not cause on the lower back musculature.
A study by McGill and colleagues (1990) showed that weight lifting belt usage showed no difference in lower back/abdominal muscle activity than those not utilizing belts. Reyna and colleagues (1995) and Ciriello and Snook (1995) both showed that belts provided no reduction in fatigue or loading of the lower back extensors with belt use. Therefore one can conclude that the lower back musculature is firing the same regardless of belt usage.
Other Interesting Studies: Cardiac and Psycho-physical
One study by Hunter and colleagues (1989) looked at how blood pressure and heart rate were affected by belts. They took 6 individuals and had them perform dead lifts, riding bicycles, or perform a one-armed bench press while wearing and not wearing a 4 in. weight belt. The lifting exercise resulted in an increase in blood pressure (up to 15 mmHg) and significantly higher HR as well.
Due to the relationship between increased systolic blood pressure and increased incidence in stroke, Hunter and colleagues concluded that use of weight lifting belts may actually increase severe cardiac incidents! Of course, this was only one study an further research is needed to test the possibility of severe consequences of belt use.
The psycho-physical aspect of belts is an interesting topic to say the least. Many professionals have expressed concern over individuals who use belts as a false sense of security and rely heavily on them. In one study by McCoy and colleagues (1988) found that subjects who are allowed to select their own amount of weight with and without a belt tended to increase the weight amount by 19% when utilizing a belt!
This led to the conclusion that subjects were given a false sense of security with a belt and could possibly lead to injury. More research is needed in this area before we can draw a solid evidence base though.
In Conclusion
Although we would like to think that weight lifting belts provide that extra edge, it appears that the evidence is heavily one sided. Like all research there will be evidence in support of and against a particular area of interest. It is up to us to see the collective body of research articles that give us direction in one way or another. It appears the side against weight belt use for the purposes of safety, reduced fatigue, reduced spinal load, and reduced muscle activity in the lower back has won.
There only supportive evidence was found in already injured workers which was not very significant, but there. However, this does not lend support to healthy bodybuilder or powerlifters who lift weights in a gym setting. More research also needs to be conducted in the areas of severe cardiac consequence of using a belt and psycho-physical properties.
If this evidence still won’t point you away from using a weight belt than atleast take the precautions into effect starting now.
Try to focus on utilizing your abdominals during training and don’t just let your stomach flail out
Do not attempt lifting feats you would otherwise not trust yourself with not utilizing a belt
Only use belts when you must and train without them during the warm-up/lighter working sets
Don’t hold your breath during the lifting phase of any exercise- breathe out!
Always maintain great posture!
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